


Monsters

by wendywhite13



Series: Imperial Physician [1]
Category: Dishonored, Dishonored (Video Games), Dishonored 2 - Fandom
Genre: Addermire Institute, Angst, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Imperial Physician, Low Chaos (Dishonored), Low Chaos Corvo Attano, Low Chaos Emily Kaldwin, Serkonos, Slow Burn, alexi's still dead sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-08
Updated: 2017-06-10
Packaged: 2018-11-10 17:37:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11131617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wendywhite13/pseuds/wendywhite13
Summary: Emily struggles to live up to the standards of her kind father as she fights to destroy Delilah's conspiracy. Her outlook begins to change when she meets a strange woman at Addermire Institute. Meant to be read as the prequel to "Sunset" and "A Matter of Duty" and concurrent but opposite to "Royal Blood".





	1. Regret

The last two weeks had been the strangest of Emily’s life. As a child, she’d dreamed of being freed from her caretakers, her responsibilities, of sailing the sea in a ship. Now she was living that dream, but in the worse way possible. Her father had been left behind, petrified in her throne room-Delilah’s throne room, now. Her kingdom was in shambles. And Alexi...Alexi was gone, forever.  
She tried to occupy her time talking to Megan. The captain was still cagey on exactly who she was or why she was helping Emily, but that didn’t bother her so much. As of right now, Megan was her only ally, and had saved her from certain death in Dunwall. Emily had no choice but to trust her. Getting Megan to chat about anything had required some patient coaxing, though. Emily had finally gotten her to talk by asking her about Sokolov. It seemed to make Megan sad to discuss him at first, but after a while, they moved into cheerfully swapping their best Sokolov stories. Things got less awkward after that.  
Emily helped pass the time by doing work on the Dreadful Wale. Megan obviously treated her ship well, but it was old and needed constant repair that neither she nor Sokolov had been physically up for. Emily found she took easily to the tasks, whether it was hanging off the side of the upper deck to bolt steel plates over holes in the ceiling or swimming below to make repairs to the rudder. Megan never said thank you directly, but sometimes Emily would find that she gave her an extra spoonful of sharkfin soup at dinner. She accepted it without comment, but smiled as she did so.  
The nights were less pleasant. After the day’s work ended and Megan went to bed, Emily was left alone with her thoughts. Her doubts.  
From that sunny day when Corvo had rescued her the Kingsparrow Lighthouse and helped her ascend to her throne, he had taught her the value of human life. He was Emily’s inspiration. Corvo had been dragged to Coldridge, blamed for Jessmine’s death, tortured, humiliated, degraded by his enemies. He had every right to hate the people of Dunwall for their cruelty to him. She had asked him once why he didn’t. Why he had moved through his enemies with gentleness, forgiveness. He had told her that he had a greater responsibility than just his emotions and his vengeance. Most of the citizens of Dunwall were suffering just as he had, but couldn’t protect themselves. As strong as he was, he had a duty to use his strength for the good of the weak. Jessamine had understood that, he said, and someday she would as well.  
Growing up, she had tried to match his standards of chivalry and forgiveness. It hadn’t been easy. Some days she hated him for leaving the conspirators alive. But as she saw the city heal and her mother’s empire come back together, she realized the reward that could come from being kind.  
So when she found herself betrayed, cast out, she had done her best to emulate her father. He had taught her how to kill if necessary, but he had also taught her much about the art of stealth. How to climb away from enemies, creep behind them, and, if necessary, how to gently press on the carotid arteries with her arm until an opponent slumped down, unconscious. Nervously, she had dropped the first two guards and dragged their snoring bodies into her office. And then she had come to Ramsey. The bastard waltzed through her apartments, twirling her signet ring and smugly monologuing about her and her father’s failures. She’d crept behind him, heart pounding in her chest, and overpowered him with an anticlimactic ease. And then she’d stood there, staring at his sleeping form. She wanted to kill him so badly. To see him bleed out as Alexi had. But her father’s words rose up in her mind. How would he feel to see his protege murder an unconscious man?  
In the end, she’d dragged him into the safe room and locked the door behind her. It was the hardest thing she had ever done. Every step of the way, she felt as if Alexi’s spirit followed her, asking Emily why she would not give her justice. Accusing her. She’d left Alexi’s body lying on her bed in the safe room, covered discreetly with a clean sheet, but she felt like her dead lover’s eyes were watching her. She had stood for a long time at the door to the safe room, knowing she needed to leave immediately but unable to make herself do so. Her father, her protector, stood in the throne room, at Delilah’s mercy whenever she came back. Her lover lay dead, and the man who had killed her would wake in a few hours with nothing worse than a headache.  
Lying in her cot in the Dreadful Wale, Emily wondered if she had made a horrible mistake.


	2. Judgement

As the skiff approached the docks, Emily’s heart was filled with trepidation. This was the country of her father, but it was also Delilah and the Duke’s stronghold. What would such a place be like? She said her goodbyes to Megan, wondering if this would be the last time they spoke.  
Around her, the city of Karnaca unfolded. It truly was beautiful, multicolored stucco buildings facing the glittering waters of the bay. Still, here and there, Emily could see signs of trouble for the city. Peeling stucco, boarded-up windows. Of the people milling about, some looked well-dressed and fed, others skinny and unkempt. Propaganda posters hung from the walls. This city belonged to the Duke, that was certain.  
Still, as she stepped into the bright sunshine of Karnaca, Emily was struck by how normal the city looked. A silvergraph artist worked taking images of the bay, and dock workers and longshoremen carried the morning’s catch to bustling fishmarkets. These people weren’t the enemy. They were just trying to live. This, Emily realized, is what Corvo had seen all those years ago in Dunwall. A city full of normal people just trying to survive in dangerous times. A city full of people worth saving. And maybe, she thought, clenching her left fist, she could save them.  
Raising her left hand to eye level, she unwound the cloth bandage to see the Mark. It stood out in the bright sunlight, spiky and black and full of dangerous promise. Emily could hardly believe it was real. Last night, she’d been pulled out of her reality and into a dark, cold place. The Void, the home of the mythical Outsider. Well...not so mythical, apparently. He’d offered her something extraordinary. A power beyond mortal comprehension. And he’d said something strange, something she didn’t quite want to believe.   
The black-eyed creature had called her father by name, telling her that he had once, fifteen years ago, Corvo had been here too. Had accepted the gift. Emily didn’t want to feel anger towards her father, but she couldn’t stop wondering why he hadn’t told her. She’d deliberated over the Mark for a long time, the Outsider watching her with his unpleasant eyes. She wanted Corvo’s advice, wanted to ask him if it was worth it, if she was being tricked. But her father was gone at the hands of that witch. And Emily realized that if she wanted to get him back, she couldn’t afford to turn down the Outsider’s offer.  
Or his other...gift. A heart, ripped from it’s chest but still pulsing with life. And it spoke to her in Jessamine’s voice. It had been a long time since Emily had spoken to her mother, but she’d known instantly it was her. Her warmth, her sadness, her love. Emily pulled the Heart out of her coat pocket, giving it a gentle squeeze.  
Jessamine’s voice rang out. Secrets, mysteries, advice. The Heart could look into the souls of the people around her, giving Emily quick glimpses into their lives. But if she was being honest with herself, she just liked to listen to Jessamine’s voice once more. It spoke softly, whispering words of encouragement and praise, but also warning.  
Yes, there was no doubt Emily was in danger here. She put the Heart away and stretched out her hand. It was time to test out those new powers. Reaching deep inside herself, Emily could feel the magic inside her. She focused on the area in front of her, and pushed the magic out.  
A long, purple thread formed from nothing, linking her hand to the balcony of the building in front of her. Emily shot forward with unbelievable speed, and desperately scrabbled to gain purchase on the balcony. Below her, there were confused cries as the civilians tried to figure out what they had half-seen. But no one could see her so high up. Emily tilted her head to the wind and gazed at Karnaca’s landscape of high-rise buildings. This was going to be fun  
Emily glided from roof to roof, laughing with glee. Had Corvo been able to do this? Had Corvo been able to do this and never shown her? She was going to have a serious talk with him at some point. Far below her, snatches of music rose up amongst the noise of the city. A street band. Emily angled down, perching on the railing above them to listen.  
They were singing about her, Emily realized with a start. About her...rule. Or lack of it. She was inexperienced, they sang. She tried, but failed. They lived in distress because of her failures. It was nothing Emily hadn’t heard before, but, maybe because of the coup, the words made tears spring to her eyes.   
“I...I tried...my…” but she couldn’t get the last word out. She looked around the city, at the crumbling buildings, heavy police presence, and obvious poverty. How many times had she heard rumors, at her council meetings, about unrest in the southern state? How many times had she ignored it to go have fun? To swing around on rooftops? Emily hissed in disgust. She hadn’t done her best at all, and she wasn’t doing it now either. She had a job to do.


	3. The Good Doctor

Emily hadn’t really known what to expect of Addermire, but it wasn’t this. The hospital stood on a dark outcropping of rock, looking for all the world completely derelict and abandoned. Pulling a piece of newspaper out of her pocket, Emily squinted at the blurry silvergraph of Addermire. Megan had given her the clip of paper so Emily could identify Dr. Hypatia when she met her, but Emily couldn’t imagine that the good doctor was living in this dreary place.  
According to everything Emily had heard, from Megan and the newspaper, Hypatia was some kind of living saint. A medical genius who gave her services to the poor and downtrodden, who had invented the famed Addermire Solution that saved so many lives each day. The doctor sounded pretty impressive. But if she was a saint, she was an absent one. In her short time in Karnaca, Emily had heard Hypatia’s name many times. But it wasn’t spoken in a good way. The doctor hadn’t been seen in months, people said. She ignored desperate calls from her patients and the Miner’s Family Commission, she hadn’t been present in her own apartment for a long time. Was she dead? Had she given up on Karnaca’s poor? Or, Emily wondered, was the Crown Killer holding her hostage?  
Looking down at the silvergraph again, Emily thought about her two targets. The mysterious murderer, and the kind doctor. She was awfully pretty, too, if the image in Emily’s hands was any indication. Another Alex, she thought suddenly. No, no that was stupid. The doctor had nothing to do with Alexi. And there was no point in getting weirdly attached to a woman who might be dead.   
She put those thoughts out of her mind and snuck quietly into Addermire. Despite the deserted look of the hospital, it was heavily guarded. Emily quickly realized the reason was to keep Dr. Hypatia there. Why? How many guards were needed to imprison one woman? What was Hypatia doing for the Duke?  
Following the conversations she had overheard from the elite guards, Emily crept into Hypatia’s operating theater. And immediately backed out. The medical facility was covered in the worst bloodyfly infestation she had ever seen. Huge red nests grew from every corner, forming a deadly obstacle course. There was no way anyone was alive back there. Still, she had to know. Emily fought her way through with pistol and sword. On the other side, she heard, improbably, a woman’s soft voice.  
Emily gazed down at the woman and gasped. The faded silvergraph did Hypatia no justice. The older woman was undoutabley beautiful. Large eyes looked out of a round face framed but auburn hair that shined under the lights of the lab. A memory rose, unbidden, out of Emily’s mind, of the sunlight glittering in Alexi’s red hair. Disturbed, Emily quickly shook the thought off and looked down at the doctor again.  
Forcing herself to see without rose-tinted glasses, it was obvious to Emily that there was something wrong with Hypatia. She was thin and gaunt, deep circles under her eyes. At first, Emily had thought the woman was doing some kind of medical research, dissecting a dead bloodfly. But while Hypatia’s hands went through empty motions on the table in front of her, she didn’t seem to actually be doing anything. Her glassy eyes stared through the lab bench, and her mouth worked constantly, muttering disjointed nonsense.  
Hesitantly, Emily raised the Heart to the doctor. The strange woman was Dr. Hypatia after all. She was altruistic and kind as Emily had been promised-Jessamine seemed to like her. But there was something odd. Emily had used the Heart on dozens of people already, and while Jessamine had not gone into deep details of people’s lives, she always seemed confident about what she knew. But now, her mother’s voice faltered, confused. Jessamine did not know why Hypatia was trapped here, or the reason behind her scattered mental state. Emily pressed the Heart for more, but it went silent, apparently having divulged all it knew. Very weird. Well, it couldn’t hurt to talk to the doctor herself.  
Emily leapt silently from the balcony and tapped Hypatia on the shoulder. Hypatia whirled around and Emily once again was struck by her soft features and glittering eyes. Before she could recover, the doctor reached toward her face, a sad expression in her eyes.  
“Do you..cover your face because you’re hurt?” She seemed worried, not about the fact that a stranger wielding a sword had just broken into her private lab, but that said stranger might be hurt. Her voice was soft, gentle, and heartbreakingly kind. Emily felt a blush rise in her cheeks and nervously swept the woman’s hand away. She managed to stutter out her reasons for being there, Sokolov and the Crown Killer. At this, Hypatia seemed to have a flash of recollection, but it was quickly gone. She meandered through an answer, seeming to forget what she was saying multiple times a sentence. The intelligence and compassion that burned in her eyes stuttered under a thick blanket of confusion, and the more she talked, the worse it got.  
Eventually she broke off the conversation and turned back to the eviscerated bloodfly on the lab bench, saying absently that someone was calling her. Emily sighed. When she was done here, she’d get Hypatia out, get her some help. There had to be something she could do for the doctor. Then she wondered-was there someone else here?   
A whispered word of a long-dead language passed Emily’s lips, and her eyes turned momentarily jet-black. To her vision, the walls of the lab seemed to turn to glass. And yes, there was someone else in the room, a glowing lifeform laying on a cot just behind a wall. One of Hypatia’s patients?  
Emily gasped in horror when she saw the man. Some horrible injury had befallen him. Or rather, many injuries. Dried brown blood caked his chest and face, while ruby red blood from fresh wounds was splattered on top. Corvo had taught Emily about field medicine, and she knew just enough to be sure there was nothing she could do for this man. Incredibly, though, he was still conscious. And he spoke to her in a broken whisper that turned her blood to ice.  
His name was Vasco, he said, and he had been Hypatia’s lab assistant. He had been helping her improve the Addermire Solution when something horrible had happened. Hypatia had tested a version of the serum on herself, causing a sadistic split personality to form inside her. The creature that would become known as the Crown Killer.  
Emily shook her, head, not wanting to believe. It was at that moment that the wall next to her exploded with concussive force and she was slammed into the floor.


	4. Listen to the Heart

A heavy metal bookshelf had improbably sailed straight through the wall and was now pinning Emily to the floor. As she struggled to orientate herself, a horrible noise welled up from the other side of the wall. A sniffling, hissing sound, like an animal. And then something shot through the hole, landing in a crouch in front of Emily.  
If it hadn’t been wearing Hypatia’s clothes, Emily wouldn’t have recognized the creature as her. Vasco said the serum had caused changes to her mind, but he hadn’t mentioned there were physical changes as well. The woman standing before her no longer looked frail. Every muscle in her lanky body was tensed to strike, and her hands curled in sharp claws. All the color had drained from Hypatia’s face, and her skin had darkened to an inhuman grey. In her mutated face, her eyes glowed yellow and shone with a deep, fearsome hunger.  
There was no doubt now. This was the Crown Killer, and Emily, crushed under the bookcase, was a sitting duck. She might as well have delivered herself to Delilah in gift-wrap.   
But, impossibly, Hypatia (or the thing inhabiting her body) didn’t seem to see her. Those glowing eyes, it seemed, didn’t work too well. Suddenly, a clatter rang out. Vasco was more spry than Emily would have given him credit for, and was attempting to crawl away through the hole left by the bookcase. The Crown Killer leapt after him, and his piercing screams filled the air.  
Emily shoved the bookcase off of her, creeping back into the operating theater as quietly as she could. Dr. Hypatia was gone, and the creature was creeping around the top balcony  
It couldn’t be. The doctor, pretty and kind, was a monster. Emily thought of all the civilians in Karnaca who were depending on her and praying for her return. This would crush them. Then, she had a thought. She once again pulled the Heart out of her pocket and pointed it towards the doctor. Jessamine’s voice rang out once more, but this time, the words were very different.  
“This is the one they call the Crown Killer, but she thinks of herself as Grim Alex.” Grim Alex? Not Hypatia? Emily continued to question the Heart, but once again, she realized, there was something the Heart could not see. The Heart had just spoken of Dr. Hypatia, but it didn’t seem to realize that this was the same woman. It spoke of Grim Alex’s madness and cruelty, but when it tried to explain deeper, it sputtered again. And it dawned on Emily. Jessamine was blind. She had no eyes to perceive the visual world, and she couldn’t see that this creature inhabited the doctor’s body. Jessamine saw souls, not bodies, and the creature in front of her did not have Hypatia’s soul. This wasn’t Hypatia. The doctor could be saved.  
Vasco had said he was making a counter-serum, and the supplies were in his office. That could save Dr. Hypatia. All Emily had to do was create by hand an antidote to the most potent poison known to man and administer it to super-strong feral monster without hurting it or getting killed herself. Yeah. Easy as pie.


	5. Poisoned

The serum was actually easier to make than Emily could have hoped. It seemed Vasco had been nearly done with his work when Grim Alex had caught him. It was a pity, Emily reflected. Had he succeeded, the Duke’s plot might have been exposed months before the coup. The remaining steps were simple enough. A sample of blood from an bloodfly-infected corpse (and Void knew there were plenty of those around Addermire), some heating to purify it. Before Emily knew it, the sample was ready. She held the metal syringe in her hands, hoping that Vasco knew what he was doing when he wrote the formula.  
Back in the operating theater, Grim Alex was creeping along the lower level. Her movements were insectoid, inhuman. Every so often, she would stop and sniff the air. Searching for Emily. It sent a shiver up her spine.  
Hang on, doctor, thought Emily, I’ll save you soon. But that was easier said than done. Emily remembered the extraordinary strength with which Grim Alex had thrown the bookshelf through the wall. This creature was naught to be trifled with.  
She dropped from the balcony again. This time, though, she made sure to put her sword away. No matter what happened, Emily wouldn’t allow herself to be tempted into a fight. She was going to save the doctor. She’d made up her mind, come what may.  
Grim Alex was paused head cocked up to the ceiling. Emily’s grip tightened on the syringe. It was now or never. But she paused, worrying. Would it really work? What if it didn’t?  
A second later, Emily realized her fatal mistake, Grim Alex’s yellow eyes could barely see. But the animal-like sniffing that the creature made wasn’t for show. And Emily was close enough to her that her presence was plain as day. With a roar of unnatural delight, Grim Alex whirled around, her yellow eyes fixed on Emily. Emily raised her arms up in a crossblock just in time to keep the first blow from landing on her face. As it was, the shock made her arms go numb, and the syringe flew from her grasp. Grim Alex hissed with delight and swept her clawed hands at Emily’s throat. But they passed through empty air, as Emily flew across the room on a long purple vine. Alex roared after her. They landed in a heap on the far side of the room, two sets of hands desperately clawing for the syringe. But Emily got there first. Mark burning on her hand, she raised the syringe above her head and plunged the needle into the monster’s shoulder.  
A horrible shriek of rage filled the air. The Crown Killer clawed at her flesh, howling in anger, but it was too late. As Emily watched, the grey began to leach out of her skin, and the clawed hands relaxed into human fingers. The writhing form collapsed to the floor, and lay still.   
Emily sat looking at her, panting, heart pounding in her chest. The prone figure once again looked like the doctor, but there was only one way to tell for certain. Steeling herself, Emily reached out a hand and tapped her on the shoulder.  
Hypatia’s eyes flew open. They were no longer the glowing yellow of Grim Alex’s, but they looked different than Emily remember. No longer glassy, her green eyes were sharp and focused.  
“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Emily whispered, trying to keep the shake from her voice as she lifted the doctor off of the dirty floor. “Are you alright? I’m...here to help.”  
“Am I...what happened? My memories...are disjointed.” Hypatia rubbed her temples and stared at the lab as if she was seeing it for the first time. Emily discreetly switched positions so her body was blocking sight of Vasco’s body on the floor. She wasn’t sure how much Hypatia understood of what had happened but there was no need to rush things.  
“Well, um...you’ve been poisoned. But! I, ah, made the antidote and you should be much better now.” Emily searched for the right words. “You...may not be safe here though. Listen, I’ve got a ship. You’d like it. You can..recover there.” Emily was surprised to hear the words come out of her mouth. But it was for a good reason. Hypatia wasn’t safe in Addermire anymore, and it just made sense to have her close by. Emily could protect her. For purely altruistic reasons.  
Hypatia nodded. She still looked a little confused, and maybe she’d think twice about the decision to go off with a strange woman when she got her wits back about her. For now, though, she seemed content to be led.  
Emily got up and crossed the room. There was a barred window cracked open along the far wall. Probable Grim Alex’s exit of choice. Below, she could see the watchtower and a gaggle of guards. She turned back to Hypatia. “I will be right back, okay. Just...stay right here and rest okay?” Hypatia gave a vague nod.  
The guards around the watchtower were easy enough to take out, and Emily deftly disabled the tower. After clearing a path for Hypatia, she took the woman’s hand and led her out into the sunlight of the bay, where Megan’s skiff waited. Hypatia’s hand was dry and cool in hers.


	6. Rest

The doctor had fallen asleep midway into the boat ride, her head bobbing on Emily’s shoulder, hair blowing in the breeze. Emily had forced herself to ignore it.  
With Hypatia unconscious, Emily explained the whole story to Megan. The captain was not pleased at all to take on another crew member, particularly one who happened to be a wanted murderer. But she’d agreed that they couldn’t simply leave Hypatia to the Duke’s mercy, or lack of it. With Vasco dead and Grim Alex vanquished, she was the only one who knew the formula for the false Addermire Solution, which was information the Duke and Delilah didn’t need.   
Once back on the ship, they cleaned out the spare room, Megan complaining all the way about folly of spontaneity. Still, she allowed Emily to clear the room and set up a small cot. She woke Hypatia and gently led her to the room, helping her take her shoes off and laying her down in the bed. The woman looked exhausted and spent, but measurably calmer than she had at the hospital. Emily just hoped she’d continue to improve. She turned to leave the room when a small voice called out to her.  
“Your...your Majesty?” a thin smile played on Hypatia’s lips. “That’s who you are, right? I’ve seen silvergraphs. You...I don’t know why you’re here. Or what you did for me really. But...I get this feeling like you’ve done something very big for me. So… thank you. Thank you for taking care of me.” Her big eyes were wide in her face, her auburn hair shining in the whale-oil lanterns. Emily felt a blush rising to her face again, and quickly turned away.  
“Just...get some sleep, okay?” she closed the door and practically ran back to her own room, holding a hand to her mouth to hide the smile that she couldn’t keep off her face.  
Megan watched her as she went, expression unreadable.


	7. Understanding

It was about three am when the trouble started. Emily had always been a heavy sleeper, so when the whispering began, she at first thought it was part of the dream she’d been having. In her mind, Emily crept through the dark corridors of Dunwall Tower, pursued by unknown enemies. She could hear their soft footsteps behind her, and then the whispering.  
“So much blood...so much meat,” a sing-song voice came from behind her. And then a horrible, high-pitched scream of fear and despair. At first, Emily thought it was her screaming. But even as she jolted awake, the screams continued. From the doctor’s room!  
Emily ran to the room next door, fumbling with the lamp. When the flame finally caught, the room flooded with light. It revealed only one figure-no assailants and no Grim Alex, as Emily had feared. Dr. Hypatia sat in bed, pushed against the steel frame of the ship. Her eyes were wide and fearful. Sweat and tears mingled and ran down her face, and her chest hitched with sobs.  
“Hey, hey, it’s okay, you’re safe-” Emily reached out a hand to comfort her but the woman snatched it away from her.  
“Safe?” she said, eyes focusing on Emily. “Is that what I am? I’m safe? For who?” The last question came out as a shriek. “You told me I was being poisoned, and I-I was so confused I just believed you. But I remembered in my dreams. Why didn’t you tell me?!”  
Emily sputtered, searching desperately for the correct response. But Hypatia’s head dropped, and the anger seemed to leave her like a balloon deflating. The voice that came out was no longer hysterical. It was soft, wet with tears, barely audible.   
“I was the Crown Killer. I’m a monster.”  
Emily’s heart seemed to twist in her chest. “No, no-listen Hypatia. You were being poisoned. The Duke-it’s his fault, he was making you drink that serum, and it-it made you change.”  
“Who made the serum? Who kept making it?” Hypatia gave out a long, shuddering sigh. “Who hands, in the end, did the deeds? I...remember now. The killings. How it felt. How I laughed.”  
“No!” Emily’s angry retort momentarily shocked the doctor out of her sobs. Emily sat down on the bed, as carefully as if a poisonous adder was sharing the sheets with them. In a way, it was. She reached a hesitant hand towards the doctor. “I met her. That...thing inside your skin. While she was controlling you, you barely knew your own name. You were confused, and she made you forget almost everything that happened. You knew...you knew that something was wrong. But please believe me, there was nothing you could have done about it.” Hypatia had stopped sobbing and was looking at her with wide eyes, at once not believing her and begging her to continue.  
“It...it was still me, though,” she whispered. But she didn’t sound so sure this time. “Some part of me must have wanted all that.”  
.That wasn’t right. Not according to Jessamine anyway. Looking at Hypatia-the real Hypatia, the Heart had sensed only her kindness, her dedication, and her pain. The Crown Killer the Heart had read as an entirely separate being. Emily wondered if she should tell the doctor that-it was, after all, the ultimate refutation of Hypatia’s fears. She and the creature had shared a body but not a soul. It might make her feel better.  
Then Emily thought better of it. No matter the circumstances, bringing up her dead mother’s sentient disembodied heart was probably a bad idea. She sighed, and thought carefully about her next words.  
“Look, doctor, I haven’t known you very long. But I feel like I know you pretty well. Maybe better than you know yourself,” Hypatia’s voice rose in protest at that statement, but Emily hushed her. “Please let me explain. Like I said, when I first met you, you were...confused. But it was more that. You were hiding in the back of a bloodfly nest, not appearing to know where you were. And when I tried to talk to you, you could barely hold a conversation-you didn’t look like you were seeing the same reality that I did. That...wasn’t an accident. That creature hated you, your work, your compassion. So she took everything from you. She destroyed Addermire, she killed your patients, she tortured Vasco. And when that wasn’t enough for her, she took your mind.”  
“But there was something she couldn’t take from you,” Hypatia had gone very still. “The woman I met in Addermire was barely awake. Confused, forgetful, afraid. Alone. But the first thing you said to me, the first thing, was to ask me if I was okay. And at the time, I thought that was really weird. But now I understand. ‘Cuz if you strip away everything that makes you you, all the knowledge and the prestige and the work, at your very heart is someone who just wants to help people. That’s your basest instinct, doctor. It’s what I saw that day in Addermire. It’s what led you to create that serum in the first place, and it’s why I risked so much to save you. Hypatia, that serum didn’t bring out the real you. It made the kind of personality that was the exact opposite.”  
For a long time, Hypatia sat in silence, Emily trying to guess what she was thinking, praying her words had meant something. Then, with a sudden and desperate strength, Hypatia wrapped her arms around Emily’s waist and buried her head in the woman’s chest, sobbing. Emily reached her arms around the woman’s back, trying to say with her contact what words could not.   
Maybe, thought Emily, she’d been naive to hope that Hypatia would just forget the things she had done as the Crown Killer. But as she cradled the doctor in the quiet darkness of the ship, the woman’s sobs gradually subsiding, Emily knew that she would do everything in her power to help the woman recover. Delilah and the Duke had taken so much, not just from Emily, but from the people of the Empire, and Emily would be damned to the Void if she’d let them take the doctor. She held tighter to the woman’s form, vowing never to let go.  
Emily was awakened a few hours later by the sounds of Megan working in the kitchen. She had fallen asleep sometime during the night, and was slumped against the bulkhead, a wicked ache in her neck. And...oh Void. The doctor slept as well, head on Emily’s chest, soft breath ruffling strands of hair near her full lips. A funny little squawking sound escaped Emily’s lips and she blushed a deep scarlet. Last night, with emotion running high and other things on her mind, this position had seemed perfectly normal. In the soft light of day it felt decidedly less so. Moving as softly as she possibly could, she gently extricated herself from Hypatia’s grasp and placed the woman’s head down on the pillow. She stepped lightly to the door, then looked back, picked Hypatia’s blanket up off the floor and tucked her in.  
Out in the hall, she found Megan leaning against a wall, looking at her with a half-closed eye. Emily felt strangely sheepish, as if she’d been caught stealing sweets, and struggled to meet the captain’s gaze.  
“I took her in because you promised me that her little madness was over,” said Megan. “But she seems unstable. She’s not going to go Crown Killer on us, is she?”  
Emily frowned. “No. And I don’t...I don’t want you talking like that. She’s good, okay?”  
Megan said nothing to this, but held her gaze for a second more before turning away. “Come talk to me after breakfast. It’ll take some time to plan an assault on Jindosh’s place. Hopefully you don’t come back from that mission with him in tow.”  
Emily gave her a sour look, but turned around when she heard a rustling behind her. In her cot, Hypatia was waking up. She straightened and wiped her eyes, then looked up at Emily standing in the doorway. Emily stiffened, unsure of how Hypatia felt after last night. But the tired woman smiled. A sad smile, but a smile nonetheless.  
“It seems I owe you thanks again,” she said.


End file.
